The CGR-1A1 is actually one of my favorite SW mechs - sure, it looks stupid on pen and paper, but when you change your mindset, it becomes amazing: the only relevant parts of the Charger are the head, CT, and legs; anything else is just a damage sponge (with a little critseeking ability). The Charger is not a mech; it's a pair of legs hooked to a reactor and cockpit. Rush head-on into the enemy and don't stop kicking.
It helps that I have experienced a consistent pattern in Battletech: the worse the mech on pen and paper, the luckier it is in the field. I've never once fielded a Fafnir without losing it to failed PSRs, either from firing the HGauss unbraced, taking damage and critting the cockpit or rifles in the fall, or a couple times even falling into double-basements head-first. The Charger, on the other hand, just keeps soaking damage and kicking away with impunity. Once, my Charger had probably lost more than half its armor when it came across a pristine Annihilator. It charged and kicked the thing to death despite every AC/10 connecting every round - it just refused to die. The only Charger I've ever lost sacrificed itself by drawing the fire of two whole lances for several repeated rounds, and still legged multiple targets in the process.
